Dreams

I have a dream, a target, a goal... call it as you'd like
that now seems unlikely to come true
No matter how hard I tried,
there are things that just lie beyond our control
but sometimes it's in the hands of other people
Could it be God's plan?

Disappointed and sad...
...to be misunderstood, when all I wanted was
trying to find the best for all....
...coz no one takes my side when I expected them to
...coz it seems like the world is against me

Maybe it's just my selfish wish after all
I know I'm selfish...
But if I don't stand up for myself, who will?

I know God have beautiful plans for my life
But it's so hard to accept and just cast my worries upon Him
when I just can't see the end of the tunnel
when I can't see what the future holds for me

It's easy to say when the turmoil is over
that God has made everything beautiful in His time ;-P
but not in the middle of it
That's what always happens to me

Maybe I should try to have more faith
Maybe I should count my blessings
and be satisfied with it....

in His time

Pertama sorry buat tante Ria, aku ga sadar kalo tante lagi 'mobile' mode di yahoo messenger :(( langsung aja main jawab offline message nya .... Sekali lagi thanks buat perhatiannya, sis....

Just a short entry this time... soalnya janjian ama kangmas mau ke Talaad thai beli ikan mas (hobby baru kita.. aku hobby kasih makan, tapi ga mau ikutan bersihin akuarium nya hehehehe)

Just as always.... He makes everything beautiful in His time..... Jumat kemaren aku udah secured a new job.... Senin dan Selasa nyiapin kontrak.... sekarang lagi berusaha adjust dan nyiapin utk kick-off dengan proyek baru ini... gaji sih tetep (malah mungkin kena potong) tapi titel nya lebih bagus... project leader.... this will look good in my resume... tapi takut juga sih... bisa ga ya aku .....

the only certain thing in this world is the uncertainty

So many things have happened regarding my job.... still nothing is for sure as of now.
Thank God I have bosses and colleagues who care about me and they tried as much as they can to help me. May God bless their kind hearts.

ngeriiiii

doooo... sudah beberapa hari ini nafsu makan meningkat terus.... ngeriiiiii
pengennya ngemiiiiil terus.....

Dec 5

I went for breakfast with my kangmas and saw him off for work. Then I bought some groceries I need for cooking. I started at 09.30, tried my best to make "ayam panggang daun jeruk" (roasted chicken with lime leaves) and "cah kangkung" (stir fried morning glory). I finished at 11.00. The chicken was too sweet and not spicy enough *hiks*. Anyway my kangmas was forced finished them all hehehe.

I felt lazy to go to the office in the afternoon and started planning what to cook the next day. But then I got a phone call from the office, telling me that I will still receive salary this month and is expected to report everyday to the office just like before.

My boss called for a meeting at 14.00. Here he confirmed that there is effort to reallocate the staffs to the suitable new job, but we will know for sure only after Jan 11.

So here I am working *and blogging too hehehe*, gone are my plans to improve my cooking skill, pity my kangmas has to bear with that :D

Dec 4

I can't recall what we did on Dec 3. I think we just relaxed and went to fitness center in the afternoon.

Dec 4 was the first working day here. I went to my old office, still many colleagues were there. Of course the finance people need to wrap up the financial report. But some others hang around too. It was good to see the old faces, the working atmosphere here was warm, people are like one big family. It feels strange, though, that things are not what they used to be anymore.

I came only to sort my things out as I didn't have time for that before the break. I just threw everything into the boxes. Feels strange that I am not as busy as I used to be. There were times when I felt that I don't have time even to breathe. I helped my colleague a little bit and planned to come back to the office in the afternoon the next day (I planned to learn and try cooking in the morning).

Dec 2

Going back to Bangkok. My kangmas was supposed to meet me in Singapore and then we would take the same flight to Bangkok. But he didn't show up on time.

I was worried because when I first checked the arrival time of his flight, it was written there "10.05 confirmed". Then I waited for 15 minutes in front of the arrival gate, nothing happened. When I checked the announcement board, it was changed to "10.15 confirmed". After another 15 minutes, I checked again and it showed "ask airlines".

I wonder why the airport staff couldn't tell me exactly what happened with the flight. They asked me to call the airlines. And so I called, but could not reach them. Then I boarded my plane as it was already the final call for the passengers boarding the flight. I asked the flight attendant to check what happened with my kangmas' flight (our flights were all with the same airlines).

After checking, the flight attendant told me that his plane could not land in Singapore due to bad weather. They already arrived at Changi but didn't get the permission to land and has to go to Kuala Lumpur then back to Singapore again. Funny, my flight landed only 10 minutes earlier than his, but we could land directly. He said that my kangmas will be transferred to another airlines because there is only one SIN - BKK flight with this airlines. Anyway I was already relieved to know that the flight was OK.

Right after I landed in Bangkok I checked with the airlines, which flight was my kangmas transferred to but I didn't get the answer after about 1 hour of waiting. So I went back home and planned to call the airlines office from home.

But, my only way of calling outside i.e.: my mobile ran out of battery, I have no charger, I don't remember from whom I can borrow. Normally I borrow from kangmas. But luckily I remember Alvin's phone number at his dorm and he was there and he has the charger. Thank God.

Then at 16.00 I found out that my kangmas would arrive at 17.20. Happily I got ready and picked him up at the airport. Miss him sooo mmmuaacchhh (during our vacation in Indonesia, we met only from 26 - 29 Dec :P).

First entry of 2005

My last day of work was 22 Dec 2004, that day I received the news that I might still have work in 2005 but nothing was 100% sure. I went back from the office at 23.30.

On 23 Dec I went back to my hometown, transit for 1 day in Singapore, I stayed in my sis' place. My last days in Bangkok were so hectic. Friend and relatives came to visit us, wrapping up of the work and clearing up my office space.

I and my kangmas were engaged on 27 Dec, the event itself was quick, but meaningful. It's another step toward our future together. Thanks to all of you who wishes us well.

But there was the tsunami disaster the day before. An old thought came back to me "Just when I am so happy and blessed, there are other people in other places which are in miseries, in the middle of a war, starving, etc.. etc.."

Ah.... I can't think of anything else to write now.... Now I'm still reporting to my old office and wait for something to come up.

45..44..43..42..

In another 45 days I will be officially jobless.... till now I haven't found the right job for me... there are still faint traces of hope for an extension of my current job (for another 4 - 6 months) but.... anyway, I'll keep my fingers crossed....

Hey.. only now I realise that it will be sad for me to say goodbye to my colleagues.... we've been working for 3 years together... though things are not always sweet, and I sometimes complained *kangmas, hope u don't mind my complaining* but in general I'm happy working with them.... some people said my office is the best place to work.... hmmm I think I agree with them..... *I have to remember to bring lots of tissue to the farewell party*

In 14 days comes December.... eventful month... we'll be taking a small step toward our future together....I'm turning 28.... and I will know what will happen to me regarding my job....

Ho Chi Minh City, Oct 25 - 27, 2004

October 25, 2004

Woke up early this morning to see my kangmas, his elder brother and his elder brother's friend. They were leaving for Siem Reap. The sun was shining so bright and the sky was blue.

I tried to sleep again but could not, then I went to the office to check my mailbox and do some printing for the final preparation to Vietnam. Then I went to Future Park to the fitness center, bought my lunch at a vegetarian food shop (though I lost my apetite). Missed my kangmas much.

We landed at 19.47 after 1.5 hours flight. The airport looks modern, newly renovated, and located in the city center! Our Vietnamese colleague said that the government plans to build a new airport about 50 km away from the city, in another province.

There are many modern buildings, bathed in light : café, hotel, restaurants side by side with some old, tattered buildings. I regretted that I did not bring any camera. The Continental hotel where we were staying is located in a shopping avenue, just beside the Opera House and near the City Hall. So many shops around and the market is not so far away.

The Continental hotel is old (built during French period, I'm not sure what year) but clean, the furniture looks like Chinese antiques. The bathroom is separated from the WC. The room is quite spacious. But they charge for the water (18,000 d + 15% tax and service charge). They give 2 card keys even though I was staying alone.

The meeting venue also has antique Chinese styles. The chairs and tables in the meeting room looked so antique. The traffic is awful like there was no rule at all. I was so scared to cross the street. I walked with my colleague, I didn't know whether I would be able to cross at all if I was alone. Joe (and later B.G. also) said that the trick is just to go ahead, don’t hesitate, the motorcycles will adjust their speed and position to your position *wow, what if they miss?*

There are many ladies selling illegal copies of ‘lonely planet’ and some other books along the street.

October 26, 2004

The food was very good everywhere I went, the people I met were very nice too. After the seminar I went to the market *kalap mode: on*. The market was huge, it sells mostly carvings, clothes, bags and sandals. There are soooo many nice ao dai (read: ao zai), so graceful and lovely and nice night gowns too. I bought a nice red-black one (I'd been wanting this for so long, when I saw Vietnamese girls wearing this in AIT graduation). There are also many fake branded goods (bags, wallets - Prada, Burberry, Gucci, you name it).

Then my Vietnamese colleague picked us up to have dinner at his house. His wife cooks very excellent dishes. The dishes were:
1. Spring roll: the skin is thin, white and has bee-hive or sponge-like texture. There was a shrimp in each roll, with its tail coming out of one end of the roll
2. Banana flower and pork salad
3. Rice paper with the filling: sawi putih, star-fruit, pineapple, steamed saba fish, basil leaf, then dipped in fish sauce with pieces of chilly
4. Soup with pieces of egg and carrot rolled inside beef meat, eaten with baguette

October 27, 2004 - Last minute shopping

As I was leaving that afternoon, at 08.30 I was ready for the minutes shopping. I found some nice dolls, some snacks, chamomile tea (not so Vietnamese, it was Dilmah tea) and fake copy of lonely planet about China (for 5 USD only, but turned out that the quality is very bad, worse than the one about Vietnam which I borrowed from kangmas' friend). In the supermarkets, we have to put our bags in a locker and took the key, first time I saw in ASEAN countries I have ever visited.

Arrived back in Bangkok at about 16.00, home sweet home, I was so tired, I went to have Thai massage in Future Park, it was very nice, 180 B for 1 hour. Then I had facial treatment and haircut too, coz the next day my kangmas would come from Siem Reap ;-P

L'amour de ma vie - part II

And every time I close my eyes
I thank the Lord that I've got you
And you've got me too
And every time I think of it
I pinch myself
'cause I don't believe it's true
That someone like you loves me too

Everytime I Close My Eyes - Babyface

Hehehe ini udah ditulis sejak 27 Aug, tapi aku belum publish sampe sekarang :P abis susah juga me-recall what happened 2 years ago... memory ku ini short term banget (kecuali utk hal2 tertentu, especially other people's faults hehehe)... biarpun kadang exam dapat bagus, tapi kalo ditanya 1 minggu setelahnya, udah lupa semua aku jawab apa... Hmmm udah 2 tahun ya, sayang pas 2nd Anniversary aku lagi di VTE dan kangmas lagi di BKK :-( before that I didn't even have time to plan anything special :-( God, I hate this job sometimes....

Hmmm... so... I went back to Thailand from Europe in late November 2001 and he arrived in Thailand to start working in early December 2001 (if I remember corrrectly on December 2, 2002). I promised to pick him up (I don't know why, he knows Bangkok more than I do anyway). I was so happy to see him coming out of the custom gate!

Then via email to I promised to wait for him before I watched Harry Potter, though my friends were already urging me to watch with them. I asked them to wait... hehehe and naturally they teased me even more....'why would you wait for him?'.....

Then I went back to Indonesia... by then I already knew (and 60% sure) that I will get a job here, but I just had to wait for my potential employer to process the documents.... so I waited and waited for 3 months (I always wanted to work in Thailand ever since I came here in 2000 and all of my friends knew that).... when I departed from the campus, he saw me off and he said - I didn't recall the exact phrase - 'paling2 nanti kamu balik ke sini lagi' and (half)jokingly I replied 'if you insist' hehehe.... I was already wondering by then, whether what my friends said were true..... and I started to have the butterfly feeling....

then I came back to Thailand in March 2002 to start working..... Nothing happen still..... I hang out with my old friends and he hang out with his own friends....

to be continued :P

Garfield the movie

tuh kan Lia... kalo aku lagi ga sibuk, jadi kecanduan ngisi blog hehehe

kemaren liat Garfield the movie, murah sih 20 B aja, tapi kecewa ah... ga se luthu komik nya... Garfield, Oddie, Nermal, Jon... lain deh....

dubber nya Garfield si Bill Murray... kebetulan barusan pas di LPB sempat liat film dia di HBO yg dia jadi badut perampok, komplotan 3 orang, mereka bikin plot perampokannya sih bagus banget, tapi along the way ada aja halangannya... aku lumayan seneng... sekarang lagi aku google apa judulnya... (sambil dengerin CD Celine Dion yg aku beli di LPB :P, masih kekenyangan makan roti vegetarian tadi pagi, sekarang sampe tgl 23 ntar di sini lagi vegetarian festival, dimana mana jual makanan vegetarian (orang thai bilang 'J' - baca: jee, 'e' spt e kedua di tempe))

Udah tua yah si Bill Murray sekarang... yessss! judulnya Quick Change (liat di HBO schedule tgl 15 Oct kemaren)....

Aduh ini MSN Messenger kok ga bisa online ya sejak Senin kemaren, biasanya sih juga appear offline, tapi at least aku bisa liat sapa aja yg lagi online (oops ketahuan) n bisa langsung login ke hotmail (malas ketik password)...

dah... back to work... preparing for another event on 26 Oct di Ho Chi Minh City dan in Dec di Bangkok aja tapi pesertanya 60 orang, kaya nya VIP, harus urus akomodasi nya juga... alamaaaakkkk..... kemaren ngurus 6 orang aja pusing :-( huaaa......

these last 2 days

talk to him - talk to him not - talk to him - talk to him not - talk to him - talk to him - talk to him - ........ oh, I just can't.... - talk to him not - talk to him - talk to him not - talk to him - oh it's not the right time - talk to him - talk to him not -........

ouch!

Luang Prabang, Oct 13 - 17, 2004

Oct 13

sampe di LPB sekitar jam 14.00, guesthouse nya lumayan bagus lah.. tapi ga ada jendela hehehe... masih baru bangunannya... kecil sih.. 18 USD pake breakfast (2 telur goreng plus baguette plus orange juice yg manis banget n pisang) katanya yg punya hotel itu orang Vietnam... masih muda tapi usahanya macam2 di LPB... emang lumayan banyak orang Vietnam disitu....

katanya sebelum th 1975 (sebelum Laos jadi negara sosialis), yg banyak berdagang adalah orang Cina, tapi setelah th 75 yg banyak jadi pengusaha atau pedagang malah orang Vietnam....

trus checking meeting room di Pansea hotel (udah ganti nama jadi nama Prancis apa gitu aku lupa)... weh, room rate nya 200 - 400 USD.... tapi untuk kita mereka mau kasih 140 USD (tetep aja mahal bok :D) tapi bagus deh... meeting room nya homy banget... ada sofa nya, buku2 novel dan travel guide dalam berbagai bahasa..... asri emang....

trus jalan2 keliling kota... ga besar kotanya.... tapi cukup sejuk karena daerah pegunungan.... transportasi yg murah naik ojek (seperti beca tapi ditarik sepeda motor, bisa muat 2 orang) atau tuk2.... bayarnya 5,000 - 10,000 kiep = 0.5 - 1 USD per orang

trus ke Tad Sea waterfall, sekitar 30 menit dari city center naik van terus naik boat kecil... rada takut juga sih... tapi waterfall nya lumayan bagus... cascading, terus airnya kehijau2an gitu spt warna jade.... karena sekitar situ batunya limestone (katanya sih :P aku mah ga tau apa hubungannya limestone dng warna kehijauan airnya)

trus pulang ke hotel.....

Oct 14

pagi ada meeting kecil sampe sekitar jam 11 an... excited karena 12.30 my kangmas sampe bareng2 teman2 kantorku yg ga ikut ke Vientiane, sekitar 20 orang gitu hehehe ... trus 12.15 kita berangkat jemput (cuma 10 menit ke airport).. trus makan siang, LPB pork sausage nya enak lho... trus aku meeting sampe jam 18.30... si kangmas sewa sepeda, jalan2 keliling cari objek foto... vat2 (temple) gitu hehehe

tapi rada heran deh, kan kota ini di declared oleh UNESCO sbg World Heritage... tapi apanya sih yg dijadiin Heritage... katanya sih bangunan lama ga boleh dipugar harus dilestarikan.. tapi banyak juga bangunan baru... tapi trus jadinya bangunan bank nya pun jadi jelek gitu, gedung lama (cuma ada 1 bank pemerintah deh, bank swasta kagak ada)

dan kota ini katanya masih kalah tua dng Ayutthaya (yg relatif ga terlalu tua juga) apalagi dng Sukothai...

tapi ada 1 tempat yg kita ga sengaja temukan tgl 16 itu, waktu blusukan masuk ke jalan kecil dari jalan utama night market nya.... seperti kita transported ke masa lalu... gimana ya... rumah kayu... temple kuno... trus biksu2 kecil lagi beraktivitas under the evening sunlight....... hehehe

balik tgl 14 lagi... makan malam bareng temen kantor... Mekong River seaweednya (riverweed kali ya harusnya hehehe) rada aneh, pahit2 gitu.... mentahannya lebih aneh lagi, pertamanya aku kira dendeng, warna abu2 gitu trus ada potongan bawang putih kering, wijen, dll...

Oct 15

paginya meeting lagi... sore nya bareng teman2 jalan ke Tad Sea waterfall lagi (karena si kangmas kan belum ke sana n tadinya mau ke Vat Xieng Thong tapi akhirnya ga jadi karena ga cukup waktu, abis orang2 tuh seneng "berkubang" di air terjun nya hehehehe)

trus makan malam bareng orang2 lagi... dendeng sapi nya enak deh, trus makanan yg khas lagi itu sambel Luang Prabang: semacam sambel terasi manis (matang) dng potongan2 kulit sapi rebus... enak juga sih.... Makanan di LPB ini emang beda dng di VTE katanya....

Oct 16

harusnya kita mau ikut ke Pak Ou cave bareng orang2 kantor... tapi ketinggalan karena salah info... mereka ubah rencana dari jam 8.30 ke jam 8... ya udah deh sewa van sendiri... 35 USD.... perjalanan 1.5 jam trus naik boat 5,000 kiep/ orang (= 0.5 USD) pulang pergi... guanya sih jelek juga hehehe banyak patung Buddha, konon sampe 4,000 patung (patung kecil2,setinggi kira2 10 cm gitu dihitung juga mungkin).... trus ada gua lain yg mesti naik tangga dulu ... hehehe lumayan juga utk exercise... lebih exercise lagi buat si kangmas yg kemana2 bawa tas kamera berat :P...

trus balik kota, liat Vat Xieng Thong yg ada lukisannya orang2an itu, bagus juga.... trus balik ke hotel, makan siang di resto sebelah hotel... ketemu boss besar dan istrinya (istrinya baru datang) dan kolega dari Lao yg ternyata belum pulang (yg lain udah pulang tgl 16 siang itu)... akhirnya makan siangnya dibayarin hehehehe

trus sore jalan ke night market... mirip juga dng di Las Ramblas nya Barcelona, kiri kanan toko trus ada cafe2 jual makanan Western: baguette, cake, pizza, creme soup dll... lumayan banyak bule nya.... trus kita nemu Walkman Village spt yg di VTE itu (yg jual CD, DVD dan barang branded palsu) persis juga jualannya..... kita makan baguette yg dikasih ham, keju, irisan tomat gitu n banana-chocolate pie (tapi ga enak pie nya) trus pulang....

Oct 17

Jalan kaki ke market itu lagi cari sarapan soalnya bosen dng sarapan hotel (tiap hari 2 telur goreng plus baguette, alamak)... kita jalan sekitar 30 menit an santai2 plus foto2, rada sepi karena hari Minggu... trus aku perhatiin wanitanya banyak yg pake celana panjang, padahal sehari2 pake rok lilit semacam sarung gitu (katanya sih diharuskan ama pemerintahnya), tapi ga tau apa emang cuma kalo Minggu boleh pake celana panjang hehehe

kita pilih cafe yg keliatan bagus n bersih, tapi duh makanannya ga enak.. pesen pizza, katanya harus tunggu 45 menit... batal .... trus pesen bread-pudding apple n chocolate fudge... ga terlalu enak... minum kopi Laos... rasanya kaya permen Chelsea (itu tuh permen zaman aku kecil), ga kayak kopi..... trus pesen creme soup mushroom.... yucky ..... seperti kepala susu (whey) gitu trus airnya rada2 terpisah.... kecewa deh kecewa.... hehehe....

sebetulnya kepengen makan itu tuh semacam cereal yg banyak dimakan orang2 situ... jadi seperti tangkai2 hijau gitu di atasnya ada biji pentul spt kuncup bunga lotus tapi kecil2...paling 0.5 cm an gitu tingginya biji nya..... trus dimakan langsung gitu... tapi pas kita jalan balik ga keliatan lagi yg jualan... ya udah deh....

siap2 pulang.... 12.00 ketemu ama orang2 kantor yg juga extend trus berangkat bareng ke airport... balik Bangkok... seneng deh :D

hehehe.... duh kalo di Indo, ke airport Semarang ato Riau gitu udah ngomel, tapi liat airport domestic di VTE... rasanya jadi bagus deh yg di Indo... trus mo nge print aja susah bukan main.... udah terbiasa dimanjain dng fasilitas di AIT.... :P

Vientiane, Oct 11 - 13, 2004

Cerita ah, mumpung masih anget.... Pake Bahasa Indo aja... biar orang Lao ga bisa baca hehehe... Aku udah denger tentang Lao yg termasuk salah satu negara miskin di kawasan ASEAN ini... kayaknya cuma sedikit lebih baik daripada Cambodia...

Begitu turun di airport Vientiane, international airport nya lumayan bagus, better than my expectation. Trus sampe di hotel, ampun, hotel nya tua banget: cat nya udah memudar, kaca nya kaca nako gitu, menghadap ke jalan raya (persis di seberangnya udah Mekong river) jadi noisy banget... kabel2nya ngga teratur... kayanya dari tahun 60 an gitu ga pernah diperbarui... meeting room nya juga mengecewakan.... padahal biasanya kantorku selalu ngadain acara ginian di hotel bintang 4 minimal... ya karena yg ngatur kantor satelit kita di Lao, ya gimana lagi... yg menentukan venue nya kan bukan aku.... aku kira para boss2 sudah setuju... ya udah...

Tadinya aku kira emang itu udah hotel terbagus di sana, tapi ternyata ngga juga... ada Lao Plaza hotel yg baru dan bagus... trus ada lagi hotel baru yg lagi dibangun, investment dari Malaysia, kaya nya luxurious bener.....

Tapi di hotel tempat aku nginap itu signal AIS bisa diterima dng jelas dan termasuk local call katanya... emang sih di seberang Mekong itu kan udah Thailand... trus aku minta kangmas beliin pulsa top up dari ATM di Bangkok, ternyata malah account pre-paid ku di lock, ga bisa telpon/ditelpon/ kirim sms lagi... cuma bisa terima sms thok... jadi senewen dehh.... mana kalo mau telpon ke Bkk lewat hotel susah (harus lewat operator, trus line nya sibuk terus kalo ke hp, kalo ke rumah ga ada yg angkat), jadi sebellll.....

Kota Vientiane sendiri kecil.... sepanjang jalan di mana hotelku berada itu (Fangum Road) banyak toko dan warung makan, tapi di seberangnya (Mekong river) banyak restaurant di atas kapal (dinner cruise gitu lah)... ada satu toko yg jualan CD dan DVD bajakan murah2... DVD 80 B = 2 USD, CD 60 B = 1.5 USD... trus toko itu juga jualan baju dan tas branded tapi palsu (Prada, Gucci, dsb), ga terlalu murah dan ga terlalu bagus kualitas nya....

Trus ada yg namanya Vertical airport... semacam tiruan Arc de Triomph gitu... disebut vertical airport karena tadinya beton yg dipake utk membangun menara itu ditujukan utk membangun airport... tapi ga jadi... karena... apa ya... lupa :P

Trus ada yg namanya morning market dan evening market... tapi yg morning market itu juga buka nya sampe sore... jualannya dompet2.. quilt... semacam collage dari kain gitu... duh gimana ya mendeskripsikannya... susah hehehe... trus ada juga quilt yg motifnya lukisan orang2 gitu dari bordiran dan ada ceritanya.... menurut aku sih jelek.. .tapi kata kangmas (dan emang aku liat) itu lukisan diambil dari satu temple yg terkenal di Luang Prabang, i.e.: Vat Xieng Thong.
Harga nya lebih murah daripada di Bangkok, tapi ternyata di LPB lebih murah lagi hehehehe untung aku ga beli banyak...

Barang kerajinan peraknya juga banyak... trus yg lain sih kain2 dan selendang yg mirip2 punya Thai... kalo barang snacks gitu kebanyakan produk Thai... makanannya mirip2 juga lah dng Thai dan Indo... nasi goreng... dsb...

Oh ya, di Vientiane ini banyak Land Cruisers lho hehehe, soalnya banyak kantor2 lembaga bantuan international to alleviate poverty gitu lah.... orang Jepang lumayan banyak...

aku ke kantor Ministry of Industry and Handicraft (yg menangani electricity di Laos, lucu ya hehehe), ke bagian Rural Electrification, bangunannya jelek, kamar mandi nya duh......

Katanya gaji pegawai pemerintah 30 - 40 USD per bulan... kecil banget ya... ga tau gimana bisa hidup ya... mungkin dapat sampingan kali ya...

Pulsa cellphone sama dng Thailand, 3 B per menit = 0.1 cent USD lah.. kalo makanan lebih murah daripada Thai...

Trus sempat jalan2 ke That Luang, bagus juga, temple keemasan gitu... trus liat pabrik Beerlao... hehehe beer ini enak sih, ga terlalu pahit....

Nah pas tgl 13 nya berangkat ke LPB (kadang ditulis Luang Phabang), domestic airportnya tua banget... kecil... n ga terawat lah... mana pesawat kita ditunda 1.5 jam karena pesawatnya belum datang... (di tempat sebelumnya tidak bisa take off karena cuaca buruk).... dari jam 10.30 jadi jam 12.00 akhirnya kita makan siang di airport... tapi yg di international (deket sih), buffet cuma 4.5 USD tapi international buffet: BBQ, makanan Jepang, macem2 cocktail, juice.... worth the money deh....

Akhirnya sekitar jam 12.00 kita masuk pesawat hehehe (maximised waktu untuk buffet nya), rada lari2 sih... tapi on time... pesawatnya kecil pake propeller gitu.. tapi untung lah lancar2 aja sampe LPB

to be continued

after some time

Hehehe, dah lama ga nge blog ya... my life was so awfully busy since last September

- on October 5-7 my office joined a big exhibition, and some VIPs (director generals from the ministries from 8 countries) are invited and I had to take care for the accommodation and transportation for some of them... it was not easy.... :P in some cases, I got the information I need only at the last minute... had to improvise a lot.. and not only that, I had to think about the exhibition too.... though my colleagues have helped me a lot with the preparation.... thank God it's over....

- on October 11-17 I went to Lao PDR... just went back yesterday.... on Oct 12 in Vientiane there was a seminar for which I was responsible for the logistics, checking that the flight bookings, visas, hotel bookings, transportation, presentation materials, budget, meeting room arrangement, documentation, LCD and computer are OK... not a big seminar... only 80 people and the local office has helped with the preparation.... then on Oct 13 I went to Luang Prabang... on Oct 14 my kangmas arrived.... but I had meeting on Oct 14 - 15 so he went around by himself then on Oct 16 we went together and on 17 back to Bangkok... I will write about my trip in Lao in another posting

just a small thing, wherever I went in ASEAN region, people always take me as one of the locals... they talked to me in their own languages... some people don't believe that I cannot understand a single word :D I guess people in this region have similar physical features, though actually I think I can differentiate one from the other...

A S A P

I use this term so often when replying emails related to my work, especially these days.... I will have many things to handle in October... it will be a helluva month.... and after that too... coz then we have to prepare to close down the office....

Come to think of it... as soon as possible is a very ambiguous term

First it may mean that I will prioritize whatever they are asking for and I will get back to them within no time

But it can also mean, that -whatever they are asking for- will not be possible in the near future and they will just have to wait and wait and wait coz I have assured them that I will get back to them whenever the answer is there.... so if I haven't replied, means the answer is not there yet.... and they should not bother me with another email.... isn't it?

C'est la vie

Life-is not as easy-as what they wrote-in the books
We-can-read-as many-books on interpersonal skills-as we want
But-life-and-people-are-unpredictable
They-may-not-react-as-what is written-there in the books

Mais-c'est la vie

We-learn-little by little-from our-experiences
Hoping-that-today-we will be-a teeny weeny bit wiser-than yesterday

C'est la vie

We-hope-that we can see-the future
But-it-is-so-impossible
We-may-have-our doubts-about-what tomorrow may bring
But-we-just-have-to go on with life

And-life-most of the times-does not give you-many choices
Sometimes-there's only one-choice
Just take it-or leave it

C'est la vie

L'amour de ma vie

How can I not love you
What do I tell my heart
When do I not want you
Here in my arms

How can I not love you – Joy Enriquez

Who is he - who must not be named :P - who has made me head over heel falling in love with for the last (almost) 2 years?

I always call him my 'kangmas' especially when I'm in a good mood :P

So... let me tell you about us...

First time I met him, I think was in January 2000 when I came to this campus for study. I'm not sure about the date... I was so shy coz I think he's so *ehm ehm*... I was not in a relationship at that time, just broken up with my ex..... but I could never have expected to start 'something special' with him....

first of all, I -with all my lack of confidence- could not manage to talk to him for more than 2 sentences in the one year I know him during my study...

second of all, I was sure that he already had a girlfriend back home, though none of my Indo friends knew the real truth at that time... and once I overheard when he called someone at the public phone... I was there behind him queueing.... he talked so sweetly... so I guessed that he was calling his girlfriend.... * kangmas, did I ever tell you about this? sorry if I did not *

So... he graduated before I did coz he also enrolled before I, and then he went home to find a job in Indonesia.... but the strange thing is we met at the Changi airport, though we did not know that the other was flying on that day... can you imagine... such a big airport and we just met there! but after that there was no communication between us.

but then... when I was in Europe for training... he sent me e-mails informing that he got a job in this campus... the very same old campus where we met... so I informed my friends who were still in this campus.. informing that he was coming back... so they teased me.... they asked me, why would he sent emails to me and not to the others.... so they said he liked me... but I didn't believe them.....

to be continued.....

What I want in live

- I'm drafting a post about my kangmas and me, but not quite ready yet :P -

For my bachelor study I lived in a city which is 6 - 8 hours away from my home town. I took public van going home and back to that city (though I did not go home often then). I have lots of time to daydream and imagine what kind of life I want for myself in the next 10 years - other times when I sat next to a lady of my mother's age, usually they will happily chat with me and treated me when we stopped for meal hehehe but then I did not have time to daydream - During the daydreams, I even picked names for my children already.... hehehe....

What I want is just simple (or is it really?). I just want a happy & loving family, quite unlike what I had to go through in my earlier phases of life. I believe I can.... though sometimes I also have my doubt.... coz some people say that when you have a family of your own, you will just repeat the same pattern as your parents.... I hope not... I really hope that I will not.....

I want to be a loving wife and best friend to my husband, who can understand, love and support him throughout our lifetime together - hiks... I've failed several times here already, often times I could not be an understanding gf to my kangmas, it's so hard..... -

I want to be a loving mother and best friend to my children (two at least :P, the first one will be a boy then the second will be a girl hehehe), with whom they can talk when they are facing problems in life, to whom they will never be afraid. A mother who can make them feel secure and make them understand that I'll always be there for them. I'll be working, but it will not take most of my time, career is of second importance to me......

That time I also dreamed that my husband will be a loving husband to me (treat him like a king and he will treat you like a queen.... an elder friend once told me... I think it's quite true), a husband who will always be there for me when I need him - sometimes I think I'm quite a needy person :P - And he will also be a loving father who will play with the kids when they are small, one who can guide them with his wisdom and teach them lessons of life.

I just want to have a small house painted in beige or other pastel colors.... lively colors for the kid's rooms and kitchen.... simple and minimally furnished... no useless kitchen utensils or other things around... For earlier years, 2 bedrooms will do..... For later years, I dream to have a house with 4 bedrooms (1 master, 2 kids' and 1 guest's) and at least 2 bathrooms (with bath tub and jacuzzi hehehe, c'mon, I can dream what I want, can't I?) and 2 separate toilets.

ah.... that's my dream...